An Addicts Blade
by SerendipitySoul
Summary: Kirito, a young gamer so obsessed with MMORPGs, gets into the beta test phase of an upcoming Virtual Reality MMORPG which will break the lines between reality and virtual reality. But what happens when the full release comes around and the game he sank so many hours into turns into a trap, a prison. A Death Game .
1. Chapter 1

A numbness passed over my body quickly, following a bright red wound drawn from my left clavicle across to my right hip bone.

This was Sword Art Online's «Damage Indicator», a wound-like texture overlaying your model's own texture after a direct hit on your avatar.

I clenched my teeth, flipping my longsword in a reverse grip to block the Lizard-man's follow up attack. The artificial but completely believable 'clang' as the swords clash echoed across the dungeon walls. The Lizard-man went reeling backwards after the clash, it's AI began re-evaluating its position, trying to find a way to gain the advantage. I look up at my HP bar at the top-left corner of my field-of-view, taking this short downtime to do damage control.

"Twenty percent..." I murmur, my eyes resting on the monster in front of me. There was eighty percent of my HP left... twenty percent closer to zero and in this world that meant _Death._

The Lizard-man readied its sword. The argentate shine of its blade turned scarlet as it dropped into a pre-motion stance of a «Sword Skill». I shift my grip on my own sword, dropping it into a sheathing like stance at my right hip. The obsidian blade of my «Elucidator» began to glow yellow as my own skill started its pre-motion. I feel the «System Assist» take over as my skill reaches the end of its pre-motion and I take off towards the Lizard-man while i still have control. We meet in the middle as its own skill takes over. My teeth grind as the two blades meet in a shower of yellow and scarlet sparks, my blade knocking the lizard's skyward as my skill carried through with its first slash upwards, followed by another horizontal slash across its abdomen and finishing with a diagonal slash downwards.

The Lizard-man freezes for a short few seconds before shattering in a confetti like display of polygons. I swipe my sword outwards in a flourish not unlike a Samurai cleaning his blade before sheathing the obsidian blade in the scabbard on my back. «Sharp Nail» is one of the hundreds of «Sword Skills» in the death game of Sword Art Online, abilities that are capable of allowing a player to perform feats that are otherwise impossible. That skill in particular is exclusive to the «One-Handed Sword» category of weapons, a 3-hit combo.

I press my forefinger and my thumb together, bringing them downwards in a quick and practised motion followed by a jingle as the in-game menu appears. I check the item drops and experience I had amassed so far and close the menu.

"I should hit the next level in about a day."

There was nobody there to listen, but I spoke aloud anyway and made my way towards the entrance of the labyrinth. I was done with my progress for the day, electing to leave for the city before night fell.

I was on the 74th floor of the gargantuan steel castle of «Aincrad», the setting of the new VRMMO Sword Art Online otherwise known as the «Death Game». I had once again escaped the hands of death, to live for another night of respite before another long day of battles. Hoping lady luck is on my side for just a while longer.

One day this game will be cleared, the day we beat the 100th floor and end this «Death Game». I just hope I don't draw the Ace of Spades before then.

I could just wait it out in the safety of a village or safe zone, rotting away while the «Clearers» risk their lives everyday to beat each floor's boss fight.

But I don't. I travel to the «Front Lines» everyday, solo. Foolishly risking my life to raise my level and stats.

Is it because I'm an addict? Do I get some sort of twisted pleasure risking my life everyday to see those numbers rise higher each level?

...Or do I really think that I can beat this game and free everyone who is trapped here with my sword?

I look up and see the late afternoon light shine through the entrance to the Labyrinth. The familiar feeling takes me back to that day.

Two years ago, when this nightmare began.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hah!"

I watched his beat-up silver blade swish through the evening air, completely missing its target for the fifth time. This red-headed bandit-type character had approached me not even moments after the Sword Art Online's launch assuming I was a beta-tester. He wasn't wrong, but I didn't appreciate him yelling it out in the middle of the «Town of Beginnings».

"Hahaha...not like that. The first motion is the most important, Klein." The bewildered look in his face was worth the time I was wasting teaching him the basics instead of grinding for XP.

"It would help if the bastard would just sit still!" Klein readied his curved sword again as the «Frenzy Boar» rounded up for another charge attack.

"Not gonna happen." I bent down to pick up a stray pebble, rolling it around in my palm. "They aren't training dummies, but after you get into the «Pre-Motion» of a skill-" I raised the pebble above my shoulder, the red glow of a «Sword Skill» enveloped the small stone before I released the pressure and sent it careening towards the Boar, striking it dead centre of its forehead. "-the system will take over and hit the target for you."

I could see Klein nod his head slowly, looking towards the «Frenzy Boar» with some sort of new found strength. He raised his curved short-sword above his shoulder when the system finally recognized the motion and began the skill. A crimson glow coated his sword with a progressive ringing noise signalling the skill's power up time.

The Boar began its attack, dashing towards him with its head lowered. Klein drove his sword skill home and shot forward at an inhumane speed, his curved sword cutting the mob from head to tail leaving a sickly red wound across its body. The «Frenzy Boar» froze for a short moment before shattering into polygons, a satisfied smile stretched across both our faces.

"Yeah!" Klein exploded into a victory dance and held up his hand for a high five which I happily obliged.

"Congrats' on your first victory." I slapped my hand against the back of his brown leather chest piece. "But really that boar was as weak as slimes from other games."

"I thought that was a mid-level field boss!" Klein's smile disappeared from his bandit-like features. I flashed him a semi-forced smile before picking up another pebble from the undergrowth and targeted another boar.

"Not a chance." I unsheathed my sword, swiping at the charging boar before switching with the red-haired bandit.

Even though I kept teasing him, I could understand what he was talking about. I had an extra two months of experience on him from participating in the beta so I had become used to the exhilarating feeling of taking an enemy down with your own blade.

After a while, I left Klein to his own devices, opting to take a stroll around the fields outside of the «Town of Beginnings». It wouldn't be long before these endless stretching plains would be full of budding adventurers hunting them dry. I look up at the setting sun, it stretches across the sky with what looks like bright orange arms, reaching out at a dark forest far off in the distance.

"I'm disappointed in you."

A nasally voice shook me from my thoughts.

"Took you long enough." I didn't even turn around to greet the perpetrator. Light footed steps crunched against the perfect grass around me, I turned my head to the side just an inch to catch a glimpse of my long-time friend.

"Early days Ki-bou." Her golden curls hid underneath a tattered «Thief's Cloak». I considered her avatar to be quite pretty, never voicing that opinion aloud even though we are close. For all I know she could be a forty-something year old man. SAO's avatar system was pretty advanced in that regard, you could even pick a female's voice modulator and sound like a real girl. Me though? I resembled my favourite Manga hero; sharp blue eyes, dark unkempt hair, tall and muscular.

"Your face lines are gone, Argo." I chuckled to myself when she replied by only puffing her cheeks out in distaste. During the beta-test she was known as «The Rat» partly for having whisker like face marks on her cheeks, but mostly for being the most well known information broker in the entire game. Knowledge was money and Argo was the richest player in the game because of that.

"I couldn't find any «NPC» vendors with black face paint." She wrapped an arm around mine, squishing herself up against me earning a well earned blush from my cheeks. "I was busy chasing _your_ trail, Ki-bou."

I shook my head disapprovingly, pulling my arm out of her vice-like grip. I saw her cheeks puff out again in mock irritation. "You could have just sent me a private message."

"Your inbox is closed to players who aren't on your «Friends List»." Argo dead-panned. My eye twitched, I had forgotten about the reset. During the beta, I had a small list of people I had become acquainted with, but on the final day of the beta-phase a GM informed me that all except my avatar data and username would be wiped from the database to encourage fairness between new players and beta testers. What I had forgotten about was that my «Friends List» was wiped too, so I had no way to contact any of the players I had become friends with during the beta.

"That sucks." I dropped down onto the grass, stretching my legs out in front of me. The view was truly spectacular. The sky was shifting slowly from brilliant golds and reds into a mellow mixture of pinks and purples as the sun dropped below the boundary of the 1st floor of the floating castle of «Aincrad». I could hear the metallic 'shhht' as Klein approached while sheathing his blade murmuring a quiet 'Hello' to Argo. "That's Argo, she is a friend of mine from the beta."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Klein, single." Klein flashed a seemingly charming smile that ended up closer to clumsy and desperate than he had anticipated. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"If you really wanna know, it's gonna cost you 2,000col." Argo flashed a toothy grin, pushing back the brown hood of her cloak and plopping herself down on the grass next to me.

"What?! I don't have that kinda money yet!" The read-headed bandit dropped to the grass in disappointment, sulking for just a moment before rising into a seated position with Argo and I. "Really though...no matter how many times I look around me, I can't believe we're _inside a game_."

I shrugged my shoulders, laying flat on my back to look up at the sky. "It's not like we're really _inside_ a game, it's just that our brains are seeing and hearing instead of our eyes and ears."

Klein stuck his bottom lip out like a kid, folding his arms over his chest in mock annoyance. "You might be used to it and all, but for me it's my first time in «FullDive»...I feel so lucky to have been born in this era!"

"You're totally exaggerating." Argo slapped his shoulder and looked up at the sky from her seated position.

We all laughed together, under the setting sky.

"So is this the first game you've played for the «Nerve Gear»?" I heard Argo's voice chime out.

"Yeah." Klein scratched his head sheepishly, his rugged but handsome features didn't match the immature expression. "I actually rushed out to buy the hardware once I got my hands on a copy of the game. There were only ten thousand copies made in the first batch, so I guess I was really lucky!"

" _Un..._ " Argo made a small noise in agreement.

"But you two were ten times luckier!" Klein began loudly. "You guys got picked for beta testing! They only picked a thousand!"

I scratched my head in response. "Yeah...I suppose." I tried to think back to when I received that confirmation email from Argus; Sword Art Online's Developers. I remember my excitement and enthusiasm for the game when it was announced. «FullDive» had been around for quite some time but because of the «Nerve Gear»'s innovation, only lacklustre, unimaginative games had been released for it. You could imagine my disappointment when you step into a virtual world and then run into an invisible wall after about a hundred metres.

But then Sword Art Online was announced with promises to break the VRMMORPG boundaries. I signed up to the dedicated forums almost immediately, hoping to soak up as much information about the game as I possibly could through any means necessary. Being such a major part of the game's pre-release community earned me a shot at the game's beta testing phase which I was apart of for the entirety of the two months it was active. To be frank, during that time I didn't think of much else apart from SAO. When the game hit the shelves, every copy was sold in minutes but I was lucky enough to get access to the store early because of my role in the beta test.

Fast forward to today- Sunday, November 6th, 2022. The day the servers came online. 1Pm on the dot. Naturally I was ready and waiting 30 minutes before hand so I could log back in the second the servers opened and it seemed like nine-thousand five-hundred people had the same idea. All of them as much of a game addict as I am.

Klein's actions clearly showed that.

He had caught me running through the cobblestone streets of the «Town of Beginnings» enjoying the nostalgia of bustling NPC markets. He must have figured out I was a beta tester by the way I knew where I was going and he wasted no time in rushing up to me.

"Hey! Please teach me things?"

I couldn't believe it when I heard it. But there was something about Klein that made his rough attitude likeable. Usually, I don't get along with people and even in the beta test my friends list was fairly short. But Klein had something that grows on you and not in an uncomfortable way.

"Ki-bou?" Argo's nasally voice snapped me out of my thoughts, my eyes flickered open as I remembered where I was.

"Sorry, I was «AFK»." I chuckled to myself at the lame joke. "What did you say?"

Argo rolled her eyes at my terrible attempt at humour. "Did you guy's want to do some quests or what...?"

Klein seemed to remember something when his eyes drifted down to the internal clock situated at the lower right corner of your field-of-view. "Sure...is what I would like to say but I ordered a pizza to be delivered at 5:30 and its kinda 5:25 now." The red-headed bandit jumped to his feet effortlessly. "I'm gonna log, power through my food and then we can meet back up then, right?" He swiped downwards with his forefinger and thumb to open the In-game menu.

I nodded my head quickly, looking to Argo for her confirmation which was unsurprisingly a swift nod like my own. Klein grinned widely at our response and tapped away in his menu.

"Hey guys...This is gonna be a noob question but...where's the «Log Out» button?" Klein rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"It should be at the bottom of the main menu screen." Argo looked at him quizzically, opening her own menu to check.

"I thought that too, but it isn't there. The button is all greyed out." Klein closed and reopened his menu.

"That can't be right. It was always there." I opened my own menu with a quick swipe downwards and just like he said; the «Log Out» button was missing.


	3. Chapter 3

My mouth went dry. The always present button at the bottom of the menu that allowed a player to safely log out of Sword Art Online, was nothing but a greyed out square. I pressed my finger against the button repeatedly, the button responding each time with a brief change of colour to a darker grey. This couldn't be right. The developers couldn't be this careless.

"Bugs like this on the first day are unavoidable. The GM's must be getting swamped by messages." Klein rubbed his roughly stubbled chin.

"Is it really alright though? Didn't you say you ordered pizza for 5:30?" Argo's coy smile stretched across her face as she teased the poor bandit.

Klein's face contorted into panic as he realised he wouldn't be able to open the door for the pizza guy. "Oh no! My anchovy pizza and ginger ale!" He held his face in his hands in exaggerated despair. "It's already 5:30! Argo, Kirito, isn't there another way to log out?!"

I thought for a moment. "Maybe call a GM, they might be able to cut you off from their end."

Klein shook his head slowly. "I've tried that, none of the GM's are picking up." Klein was now waving both his arms around, yelling out voice commands which weren't working while Argo tried her hardest to calm the confused bandit. My blood seemed to freeze as I realised what was happening. I felt a chill run down my spine. We can't log out.

«Argus», the developers of Sword Art Online, were always known to be extremely considerate of their player-base, the fact that it had been nearly fifteen minutes since the discovery of this game breaking bug and there hadn't even been a system announcement.

I looked up at the sky, or rather; a ceiling. The sky of the 1st floor of Castle Aincrad was actually the foundation for the 2nd floor with a tall spire like structure connecting them; the «Labyrinth». The pathway to the 2nd floor.

I took a long, deep breath in of cold air, letting my eyes wander over the rolling plains and distant forests on the area around the Starting City. Despite the situation I was in, I found profound beauty in these things under the glow of the sunset.

But that peace was quickly interrupted by a loud ringing noise that seemed to come from all directions at once. It seemed to be chiming something, perhaps a warning bell. But before I could come up with a theory, Klein, Argo and I were engulfed by a bright blue light and my vision of the golden plains blurred. This was a common occurrence in the beta, a «Teleport». But I had yet to buy or find a «Teleport Crystal» and I didn't shout a Teleport command in the right zone, so it had to be a forced teleport by a GM, but why didn't they announce it?

Before I could ponder on this any longer, the blue light faded to reveal familiar cobblestone roads lined with lamp posts and «NPC» traders selling their wares. This was the starting point; «Central Plaza». The dark castle loomed above with a kind of menacing presence, emanating a kind of dark light. The reason for this was simple; it was SAO's prison.

Pillars of blue light began to burst from the ground all over the plaza one after another. Players emerging from them dazed and confused. I looked at Argo who had now wrapped both her arms around one of my own. I could tell she was looking for some kind of comfort in the chaos that was unfolding. People huddled together all over the plaza just quietly mumbling in confusing and looking around for some kind of answer.

"This is a weird way of announcing a bug!"

"Can we log out now?!"

"This is bull! I was only logging in for a minute!"

After a while a beeping could be heard from up above the «Black Iron Palace».

"Look up there!" A voice could be heard over the crowd. Stretching across the bottom of the 2nd floor, a pattern could be seen of hexagonal panels flashing red with the phrase [Warning: System Announcement]. I could feel the crowd momentarily relax as the developers had finally realised there had been a bug but that feeling was quickly extinguished.

"What the hell?"

From the center of the flashing panels a viscous blood-like liquid began to ooze down slowly, but instead of pooling in the center of the city and drowning us all, it began to congeal into the shape of a human wearing a dark red, hooded robe. This figure was easily 30 foot tall but it wasn't quite human. It had no face, just a dark shadow that poured from under the hood like black smoke, and it's hands seemed to be disembodied, just barely attached to the body by the same thick smoke coming from under its hood.

I could feel Argo's fingers lace with mine, the look on her face contorting into panic. I could feel panic of my own rise up in my throat, my stomach was churning at this figure. It didn't seem right. The robes were definitely the same robes that GM's wore in the beta, but GM's had faces. This thing in front of us just filled me with fear.

[Attention!]

A low, calm voice echoed around the plaza, seemingly coming from every direction.

[My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the only one who controls this world.]

My avatar stiffened in shock, a lump forming in my throat as I repeated his words in my head over and over.

There was no way anyone could mistake that name. Kayaba Akihiko was the lead director for Sword Art Online and the designer of its dedicated hardware, the «Nerve Gear».

[Most of you have noticed that the Log Out feature is not available. This is not a bug, this is how Sword Art Online was designed.]

"How...it was...designed?" I heard Klein mutter to himself.

[Until you reach the top of this Castle and defeat the Boss, you will remain here, unable to log out of your own free will.]

There was no castle in the «Town of Beginnings» apart from the prison and that was only 10 floors inside a safe zone. But before I could ponder any longer, Kayaba pulled me once again from my thoughts.

[In addition... any attempts to remove or dismantle the «Nerve Gear» device are forbidden. If this is attempted by anyone on the outside...]

He stopped. The crowd was silent. The silence of ten thousand people deafening in ways vastly different from conventional noise.

[...the signal sensors inside the device will emit an electro-magnetic pulse that will simultaneously destroy your brain and end your life.]

Klein and I stared at each other in shock for what seemed like minutes. My brain just stopped working as if it shut down to avoid accepting what had just been said. But his calm words jolted through me like a power surge.

[Sword Art Online is no longer just a game. Think of it as a second reality. All forms of revival have been removed, if your Health Points drop to zero, the Nerve Gear will destroy your brain.]

The plaza stood completely still for a moment. Ten thousand people frozen in shock, their stares of disbelief plastered onto their features. I looked up at my health bar, seeing the thin green line stretch across the top of my view. 500/500 HP, five-hundred hit-points...my life force. Once that number hits zero, I will die. I felt the sudden urge to laugh out loud at the absurdity of it, I bite my tongue and clench my fists, wishing the feeling away. During the beta i had died hundreds of times, respawning at the «Black Iron Palace» with an embarrassed smirk before running back off into the hunting grounds to grind further. That was what an RPG was. You played until you reach a point where the game becomes to hard and you level up, dying and learning in the process, but now, in a game where dying means you lose your life? This really is a Death Game.

"No way..." I muttered in a low voice.

Who would ever go into the field in these conditions? It was safer to stay in the Starting City where you couldn't be harmed by anything. But as if he was reading my mind, Kayaba spoke again in his cold voice.

[As of this moment, the only way to free yourselves and escape this world; is to climb all 100 floors of «Aincrad» and defeat the final boss on the 100th floor. Only then will you be safely logged out.]

Murmurs began to echo about the plaza quietly before a loud voice from my left broke the silence.

"Clear all 100 floors?! What the hell dude. The beta-testers didn't even get that high in two months!" Klein screamed up at the figure, his hands balled into fists with a look of seething rage plastered on his features.

It was true, in the two months that I was a part of the Sword Art Online beta test, the top clearing party had only made it up to the 6th floor. Even then, the party wiped plenty of times on each boss.

I craned my head back, looking up at the figure with a scrutinizing look. It was hard to accept, this whole Death Game thing, but there was something about Kayaba that shook me to my core. The fact that I'm having trouble doubting his words, convincing myself that this is just some twisted opening ceremony and that any moment he is going to laugh and log everyone out. But the figure flicked his hand downwards in a familiar motion to open the menu.

[Allow me to show you evidence that this world is now your reality for as long as it takes for you to clear this game. In your inventories, I have placed an item. Please confirm this.]

As soon as the words left his mouth, I pressed my finger against the inventory icon in my menu which opened my items storage. An unfamiliar item name stood out from the rest.

«Hand Mirror»

What was this? Why would he give us all this? I pressed the «Make into Item» option on the screen and the object materialized in my hands. It did nothing but reflect the image of my avatar I'd spent so many hours creating. With a raised eyebrow, my eyes met Klein's and then moved to Argo's hesitant ones.

Suddenly, Klein, Argo and all the others in the plaza were engulfed by white pillars of light. As I took this in, I could only see white myself. When the light finally dissipated, they were standing there just as they were before but...no...I was greeted with an unfamiliar face. The same rugged features, same red hair and bandana, but his face was completely different. His eyes were more sunken and had a twinkle to them, his delicate nose was replaced by a large hooked nose and his stubble appeared more ragged and uneven.

"Who are you?" I pointed a finger at the strange man who resembled my new friend.

"Wait, who are you?" He replied. My face twisted in confusion, I looked down at the hand mirror still in my glove-clad grip. The face that greeted me however, was not the handsome hero I was expecting, but it was the effeminate, youthful features of my real face.

"Ki-bou?" My eyes darted to the unfamiliar voice at my right side, her hands wrapped around my arm tightly. What greeted me was the face of a young girl around my age, mid length curly blonde hair framed her delicate features impressively. She was quite a good looking girl. But who was she? Wait. Argo was at my right.

"Argo?"


	4. Chapter 4

[A/N] Sorry I don't post any authors notes very often but I've been itching to get through this boring "Start Up" sequence of the story and start making some REAL deviations from the canon, apart from the Argo and Klein fan-service so far. They are two of my favourite characters from the series and didn't get half as much screen time as they should have. Mix Sinon into it and you have a group of my favourite characters ever. I appreciate the all the follows and favourites and I would love to see more reviews, good and bad. If you want to tell me what you think should happen or something I may have done wrong, that's the place to do it. But without further adieu, lets start the first real chapter of change.]

* * *

I blinked. She blinked. We repeated this motion over and over for seconds, not completely processing what was going on.

"Kirito, Argo. He's speaking again." Klein's voice seemed to snap me from my daze. The moment seemingly forgotten for the time being as my eyes drifted back up to the hooded man above us.

[You may be asking yourselves, why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, creator of Sword Art Online, be doing this? It is not a terrorist attack, nor is it a bid for money.]

I listened intently to his calm words, every syllable was being laid out individually in my head, trying to piece them together in a way to try and find a way into his head. What is he thinking? Why is he being so cryptic?

[It is nothing of the sort. I simply wanted to observe a world entirely by my own design. Watch it's people meld together into a world of my own creation and what better way than to bring you all together in this world.]

He paused for a short period of time, raising his arms wide as he delivered the last line of his welcoming speech.

[And so...That concludes the «Tutorial» of Sword Art Online. Players- I wish you good luck and god speed.]

His voice faded out slowly as the giant robe began to sink like it was melting. It slowly sank into the plaza before shattering in a flash of glass like polygons. Its sound effect echoed off the walls, bouncing back and forth until it was nothing more than a faint memory.

This was now reality...

It now completely dawned on me. If I fell to a monster. If it reduced my HP down to zero, just like that cloak and the countless boars we fought in the fields, I would shatter into polygons and the Nerve Gear...it would fry my brain and end my life forever.

I listened to the panic spread across the player base, their screams and panicked questioning slowly faded out as my mind began to work overtime. I breathed in a long, deep breath and turned to my two companions.

"Klein, Argo. Come with me for a sec." I gave them no time to object as I grabbed Klein's arm and tightened my grip on Argo's hand and took off towards the North gate. We weaved easily through the crowd, sidestepping NPC carriages and taking as many shortcuts as my memory provided. I stopped in the shadow of an alleyway.

"You've played MMO's before right?" I asked the two of them, finally coming to a stop. I let go of Klein but Argo seemed to squeeze my hand more when I tried to let go. They both nodded back at my question. "Then you both know that we need to move quickly, I know all the safest pathways to the next town, picking up all the essential and high reward quests on the way. You both know that once the chaos dies down, these hunting areas are going to be swamped with players trying to level up in safety and there are only so much Col to go around in this game."

They both nodded back in unison. I was glad I didn't have to argue with them about staying inside the city. My eyes drifted between the two of them, looking back and forth. Klein seemed to be deliberating something, his eyes looked unsure and questioning.

"Kirito...I completely agree, but I do have friends who bought this game with me." He seemed apologetic almost, like he had done something wrong already. "I can't expect you to drag around a big group of players all the time. Like you said, you always played solo in other games."

He flashed a big smile at me as if he was trying to convince me he wasn't terrified of being alone. But he was wrong, if he wanted to be with his friends he would never be alone. I opened my menu, sending the bandit a friend request was as much as I could do to keep an eye on him just in case.

"Tell you what Klein. Meet us in «Horunka» village in two days time. We'll reconvene and decide on what we're going to do then." I tried to offer him a reassuring smile, bolstering a bit of confidence that he was going to stay alive that long, but that was something I couldn't possibly guarantee unless he came with me. But he nodded his head, floppy red hair seemed to bounce around after every movement.

"Thanks Kirito." I watched as he turned his back to Argo and I, a slight falter in his voice. "Y'know, I prefer that look on you. Makes you seem heaps cooler this way."

I nodded my head and gave an affirmative grunt.

"And that scruffy haircut suits you ten times better too." I turned away from the bandit, my hand still clasped around Argo's and took off towards the gate. Through the forest, bearing north-west was our destination, the small town of «Horunka».

"Ki-bou?"

I stopped, craning my head around to meet her gaze. We had just made it to the forest, it would take us forty minutes to clear the forest if we didn't stop to grind.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, one of my eyebrows arched in question. I already knew what was wrong, I had been avoiding even thinking about it myself.

"What if...Kayaba was telling the truth. That we really do die when our HP hits zero." Argo pushed her hood back, the brown fabric folded back against the middle of her shoulder blades. "I'm scared Ki-bou. I deal in information, my inbox is already filled with panicked players who think I have more answers than questions. And honestly...I'm panicking too." This girl, who had always been nothing but strong and quick witted in the beta, had suddenly been replaced by a real person, with fears and worries. I watched her wrap her arms around herself, closing herself in but I don't know what to say, I'm just a fifteen year old boy who plays too many games.

I reach out and rest a hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. I used to do this all the time to my little sister. When she would worry about performing well before a Kendo tournament, I would reassuringly squeeze her shoulder and she would always melt away, back into the strong athlete I could never be.

I was relieved when I felt the scared blonde ease and relax under my touch. I gave her shoulder a soft pat before I snapped to attention at the sound of a rustle in the under-brush. I dropped down into a crouch, my «Hiding» skill activated, giving my avatar a slight transparency effect. I nodded at Argo as she copied me quickly, her own skill activated the same way. My hand reached for my sword, drawing it out with a slow metallic unsheathing sound effect. The dull shine of my longsword was a giveaway to players when hiding but it's visual effects had no effect if it was a Monster.

"Little Nepenthes." I whispered to Argo, earning a quick nod. She was aware of the mobs characteristics and weaknesses, which was good since I didn't have to explain what NOT to do. I eased around the trunk of a large tree I was hiding behind to try and sneak a look at what type of «Little Nepenthe» it was.

«Little Nepenthes» came in three different varieties; standard, flower and bulb. The standard Nepenthes, had no distinct changes to their appearance. They were about 180 centimetres tall with vine like roots as feet and a large red mouth that dripped viscous fluid that would inflict a «Damage-Over-Time» effect if you touched it. The second type; the flower type, had a single red flower blooming above its massive mouth that when killed would drop a «Little Nepenthe's Ovule» which is a rare quest item. The last type was the bulb type which had a big red bulb above its mouth. Damaging that mob would release an odour that would attract all «Little Nepenthes» in the area, spelling disaster for any player in their early levels. Luckily, the Nepenthe that was stalking around this part of the forest was just a regular one.

"Behind the tree." My voice was low, its volume was lowered due to my «Hiding» skill's effects. I jumped out from behind the trunk of the tree, taking a quick swipe at the Nepenthe, gauging its level roughly. Its vine like arms swiped back at my sword, clashing with the dull steel with a sharp metallic clang. It was almost a level above me, perhaps 2 levels above Argo who was hanging back with her dagger drawn. I pushed hard against its blade-like appendage and stunned it, bringing my sword up above my shoulder to activate my «Slant» sword skill. I let loose with a flash of green energy, a thin red line crossed diagonally from one side of the Nepenthe to the other. It gave a shrill squeak before exploding into polygons.

"Lucky crit." I harrumphed, flourishing my sword and sheathing it against my back. In fairness, it was a really lucky critical hit. I shouldn't have been able to deal a killing blow in 3 hits against a Nepenthe a level above me, which means all three hits must have been critical hits.

"Always the lucky one huh, Ki-bou?" Argo's mischievous voice called out from behind me, a teasing smirk was plastered on her thin lips. I had forgotten she was there the moment I jumped from behind the trunk, my mind had gone into full gamer mode, searching for weaknesses like casting a "Libra" spell from the classic RPG games. I decided to ignore her comment for a moment longer. I activated another of my chosen skills; «Searching». My field of view darkened slightly, taking a green hue. Points of interest and players were marked with a white outline, while enemies were outlined with red. Satisfied that there were no glowing red outlines in the trees, I deactivated mys skill and turned to the curious blonde.

"All clear." I gestured with a quick thumbs up, the corner of my lips turned upwards a millimetre or two. "But we may want to be careful passing through to Horunka. There shouldn't be «Little Nepenthes» this far out on the edge of the forest." I saw the information turning in her head for a second before she opened her menu with the flick of her wrist and begin typing a message to what was most likely an informant or a thread in her information web she was most likely forming.

We walked on a little further, now treading with more caution at the fact that more mechanics may have changed since the beta. Every once and a while, Argo would quickly reply to messages on the fly and quietly discussing the idea of writing a players manual with me, using the information we were gathering.

Eventually, we came to the exit of the forest which was a huge clearing with a small hunting village placed in the center of it. «Horunka», Sword Art Online's second safe zone out of hundreds, maybe thousands or safe zones scattered across all the floors. It consisted of ten large averagely sized buildings. It's most important buildings were at the center of the village while others were scattered around the clearing.

"C'mon. Let's go check in at the Inn. I need to organize my inventory." Argo pulled on my wrist, dragging me to the larger building out of the 10.

"But I need to go accept the «Secret Medicine of the Forest» Quest!" I pulled against her grip but since I was still in the lower levels and hadn't assigned any points into my Strength stat, it was futile to resist.

Argo shot me a deadpan look, turning on her heel again and continued to drag me into the comfy looking, wooden building.

* * *

[Sorry this chapter took so long. I've started at a new job and work hours are long. Hope you enjoyed it.]


	5. Chapter 5

I craned my head around the tight wooden walls of the Inn. There was a small fireplace on the east wall emitting a peaceful and comforting heat around the room. At the front was a long bar with bar stools placed every two feet along it, a gruff looking «NPC» stood behind it with his arms folded. It was a quaint little Inn, cosy and cheap, I didn't mind making this my home for the next few days, at least until Argo and I could gather enough Col to rent out the farmhouse on the village outskirts. It was something I had done plenty of times during the beta test because of its convenience.

I took a seat down at the bar while Argo was busy typing out messages to her contacts and eyed up the bartended. He nodded his head and walked over to me.

[Good-day Traveller. Would you be looking to buy or sell today?] The almost convincingly human tone that came out of the «NPC» alarmed me for a second. Usually, during the beta the Non-Player Characters were cold and responded only to a list of set commands and replied in strange ways.

"I'd like it if you took something off my hands, Sir." I responded as clearly as I could to make sure the system recognized my command. But the way the barman responded caught me off guard once again.

[No need to speak so formal traveller! We're all friends here!] His voice boomed in the small room, quickly filling the room with a strange feeling of camaraderie. Before I could think too hard on it a trade window opened up in front of my face with the name «Garent the Barkeep» at the top. I swiped my finger across the icon at the left of the window to open my inventory tab and began to drag all of the trash drops into the trade window. The downsides to grinding is how quickly your inventory fills at lower levels. Once you allocated a few points into your STR stat, you could effectively multiply your carry weight into the thousands of pounds.

I pressed my finger against the accept button located at the bottom of the window after I had cleared up all the junk. The barman smiled and closed the window, the junk materialized into a generic head-sized burlap sack tied at the top with a frayed rope. No matter how much junk you deposited into an «NPC» trade window, it would always appear as the same generic bag.

[Thanks for your business, Traveller. Will that be all for now?] The barman dropped the bag behind the counter and fetched a rag to wipe the bench down with.

"Yes, that will be all." I turned my head to the small armchair by the fire where Argo was sitting. Her face was contorted into a look of concentration and focus, obviously she was having quite an important discussion. It was a look I'd seen plenty of times, often in times of deliberation on how much Col to charge for a certain piece of information or data, but this time I'm sure it's still about the terrifying announcement from SAO's Creator, Akihiko Kayaba. It had been about 4 hours since the worlds biggest bombshell was dropped on this game's player-base, that the seemingly innocent Virtual Reality MMORPG that we had been waiting so patiently for; was a Death Game. A game where if you were killed in the game, your real body would also die simultaneously.

"What're you thinking about?" Argo placed a hand on my shoulder tentatively. "You've been staring into the fireplace for about two minutes."

"Nothing of importance." I shook my head at the blonde and stood from the barstool which gave out a small squeak as it moved across the wooden floor. "I need to clear my head, maybe getting some progress into this quest will help me relax." I tried to walk towards the door but I felt something warm clasp around my wrist.

"Don't go alone." Her eyes were hard, amber irises bore into my own. "Don't go hunting alone." She let my wrist go and offered a small smile. "I'll go with you, two blades are better than one right?"

I gave in promptly. She was right no matter how I looked at it, I would get the quest done quicker if we both farmed the «Little Nepenthes» and then traded the mats afterwards and it would also give her an opportunity to level up some more. If I was going to forgo playing solo for a while it would be best to have backup at a decent level, especially with my irresponsible play style.

I opened my menu with a quick swipe downwards and tapping my finger against the equipment icon on the left side of the screen. A silhouette of my avatar appeared in front of my face showing the stat bonuses and equipment details of my currently equipped gear. I tapped my finger against the slot reading [Chest], the words «Beginner's Chestplate» pop up in a small text box. I press the «Switch» button and select a piece of armour that dropped during my trip through the forest. I feel a weight lift from my chest for just a moment as the chest piece de-materializes into my inventory and an almost identical piece replaces it. The differences were only as subtle as a few extra metal studs on the straps and a slightly darker leather is wrapped around my chest. I almost laugh at how generic the armour drops are from the first floor as I replace all of my «Beginner's Gear» with the slightly better «Leather Gear» set from the Horunka Forest drops. I feel my shoulders droop at the sudden heaviness I'm feeling with this new gear set. My STR stat was high enough to equip the whole set with no problem but it did require a higher STR than the starting gear.

"Ready to go?" I raised an eyebrow at the blonde girl who was still rummaging around in her own menu. She was wearing a delightful change from the tattered hooded cloak with a new forest green alternative, with less holes and a new darker leather chestplate to match my own.

She nodded back to me, flipping a small dagger between her fingers before sheathing it inside her cloak.

As we walked through the village towards the house where the «Secret Medicine of the Forest» Quest NPC was located, I heard the familiar chatter of players from around the corner. I place a hand out behind me, slowing Argo's movement and pressed my back against the brown weatherboards of an NPC house.

"What is it?" Argo cupped her hands over her mouth to muffle her voice.

I peered around the corner in an attempt to spot the group of players. "Looks like a five-man party." I activated «Searching» which enabled me to get a better look at the players, two of which had orange «Cursors», a small coloured diamond above the heads of all players. Green, for regular players or orange for criminals. "Two of them are orange." I spat. Even in the beta, before SAO was a death game, orange players were frowned upon as players who steal and kill other players to get rare items or Col were always branded with an orange «Cursor».

I heard Argo's breath hitch as I mentioned the orange players, fear bubbling to the surface. "It's only been a few hours..."

I nodded in agreement. It was one thing to kill a player where the only penalty for dying was a trip back to the «Town of Beginnings» and the loss of a few random items and Col, but to kill another player where the penalty is actual death; it was disgusting.

"Lets move." I took a step back from the corner, electing to go around the back of the village and avoid the party. "I don't want to tangle with player killers at this level." I earned a quick nod of approval from Argo before we took off towards the NPC house.

After speaking to the quest NPC and accepting the quest, we sneaked out of the village quickly, making our way into the treeline. The quicker we got this quest done, the faster we could get back into the village and into the safe zone. Orange players can't enter village safe zones because of their «Criminal» status, as soon as a criminal steps foot into the safe zone the town's guards would immediately become hostile towards them and all party members associated with them. It was a handy mechanic, but some more patient player killers would wait outside towns and villages just to jump unsuspecting players.

Mob grinding, always starts out as a chore in games. Killing the same enemy over and over to get a certain item that only drops 1% of the time was a real drag. In SAO however, it was even more of a drag, as boring as it was dangerous. The «Nepenthe's Ovule», the item that I needed to complete the quest was a fairly rare item in the beta, that only dropped from «Little Nepenthes» with a flower above their heads, they had a spawn rate of maybe 1% after you killed a regular Nepenthe. Argo and I have been fighting Nepenthe's for 3 hours, slain hundreds of the bastard vine mobs and only managed to get 1 Ovule.

"Tch!" I growled under my breath, cutting down another green devil. Its glass shattering death animation rewarded me with another useless junk item. I had managed to reach level 7 alone on their EXP rewards. It was a testament to how many Nepenthes we had felled. "They must have lowered the spawn rate of the flower variant considerably since the beta." I called out to my companion, who had just cut down another of her own targets. I saw the faint shimmer of gold surround her avatar, signalling a [Level-Up].

"Level 5, not bad." She wiped her forehead with the sleeve of her under shirt even though our avatars were incapable of sweating. "I really hope the developers have upped the stats on the quest reward, considering how hard they've made it to finish the stupid quest."

I looked around the small clearing we had been 'camping' in. Seeing that we had exhausted the Nepenthe population, I sheathed my battered sword and opened my menu to check my gear's durability. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Argo slump down against the trunk of a large tree, stabbing the blade of her dagger into the dirt which was comically met with a purple hexagon pop-up with the words [Immortal Object] written across it. This part of the forest was quite peaceful during the night, it would be a fantastic place to camp out in if not for the monster population and player killers liable to murder you in your sleep. A smile spread across my lips but for some reason, it wasn't a smile of happiness, it felt like a hopeless smile, the kind of smile that licks across your lips when there's nothing to be happy about. I was quickly shaken from my thoughts at the sound of the monster's repopulation sound effect. My sword was out of its sheath in record time as I took a battle stance and turned my head to where Argo was previously slumped. Relieved to see her standing to attention just as I was, we shared a quick look of acknowledgement and kicked off to fight another horde of vine monsters.

Another few hours passed and I was exhausted. My stomach grumbled for food and my eyes were screaming for sleep. I was fighting off the urge to just pass out right here in the middle of the forest. I sheathed my sword once more before dropping onto my rear right there in the dirt clumsily. I checked my inventory quickly, with a triumphant smile, I gestured to Argo who had just sat down behind me with a thumbs up.

"Woot." She sighed loudly and sarcastically, but I could hear the smile in her voice as she leaned back and rested against my own. We sat there for about five minutes, back to back in silence before I finally cleared my throat and began to stand up.

"Let's hand in this quest and get some well deserved sleep." I rested my hand on her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.

"Yeah, good idea." Argo rubbed her tired eyes with the back of her leather clad hand and began to get up slowly.

"I wish I could let you do that." My head spun towards the intruding voice, my hand shot towards the hilt of my sword, drawing the steel blade with lightning-like speed. A figure emerged from behind a thick tree trunk, beady black eyes stared back at me from underneath the same tattered brown cloak Argo had used earlier. "You see, I've been following you since you left Horunka Village." He flipped a large knife in the air before catching it between his fingers. "You hand those ovules over to me and I might consider not killing you."

I clenched my teeth, my eyes scanning quickly over the tree line looking for his back up. I didn't recognise him from the group I saw at the village so he must have been hiding or from a completely different group all together. I can't see anyone amongst the trees yet so either he's all alone, which would be a stupid move, or they are just out of range of my searching skill.

"So what do you say kiddies. You gonna hand over those goods?" I saw a smile split his face under the hood, it almost looked demon-like. I gripped the hilt of my sword hard, the leather grip creaked into my palm. I studied the man, if we could take him on both sides at once and try to catch him by surprise, we might be able to incapacitate him without killing him. It was a solid plan if he didn't have back up. But if he did have backup, the fight might go in a completely different direction.

My eyes met Argo's for a split second, hopefully enough to get her head going in the same direction mine was. "3...2...1..." I counted down under my breath, hoping she got the idea all the same. I didn't wait, I shot towards the hooded man with my blade at the ready with Argo close behind me. The man didn't even flinch as we both ran towards him as fast as we could, he only raised his knife into a battle stance. I swing my sword as hard as I can at his knife, hoping I can overpower his guard and knock him off balance for Argo to follow up, but he manages to duck under my swing and knock his blade into the underside of mine, causing me to overshoot him and waste precious time preparing for a follow up attack. Argo tried the same approach, smashing her dagger against his repeatedly, the sparks from their collision lit up the dark clearing enough for me to spot the glint of steel weapons in the trees. "Argo pull back!" I jumped backwards quickly, getting as far away from the treeline as possible while Argo finally managed to knock the man off balance enough to pull away from their fight.

The man began to laugh. His voice crackled like a machine gun as he sheathed his knife in his cloak. "You really thought I would come alone?" The figures I spotted in the trees began to walk into the clearing. One...two...three...four...five. Those same five from the village earlier. There was no way we could win this on our own. My head starts swimming with possible outcomes. Every plan I could think of ended the same way...with us dead. "I take back my previous offer, you can give us the Ovules now and...well... it doesn't matter either way. You're both going to die anyway!"

The group seemed to rally at that and raised their weapons to fight.

I turned to Argo and smiled gently. Her eyes met mine in a similar manner.

"I'm so sorry Argo, I didn't mean for this-" She pressed a finger against my lips.

"Shh, I don't blame you and I never will." She forced a smile to her lips, but I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. I wanted to say something more to console her but my thoughts were interrupted by an all to familiar shimmering sound resonating through the forest.

Re-pop.

"I have an idea."

* * *

[A/N This was a bit of a longer chapter but I hope you enjoy it. I'm trying to increase the quality of each chapter I write, but its not easy to progress without an ass-tonne of exposition. I hope you enjoyed it at least! Please leave a review of your thoughts. Until next time!]


	6. Chapter 6

[Its been a long time coming, and I know I should have kept it up. But I've decided to come back with an update after such a long hiatus. After re-reading the story once over, I decided this had too much potential to be squandered by inactivity. So here's hoping that someone will decide to come back and read what I have written once again.]

 _Chapter 6 - An Idea_

"I have an idea."

My eyes flicked between the slowly approaching men and the shimmering of repopulating Nepenthes beyond the tree line. I violently poked the inside of my cheek with my tongue in thought as my mind raced to puzzle together our escape.

"An idea? Ki-bou, this isn't really the time to fill me with false hope." I watched her blink away the budding tears as her eyes darted around the clearing like my own. "What do you have in mind?"

The opposing players seemed to be oblivious to what was happening around them as the monster population in the area was rapidly replenishing, they seemed to be almost in some kind of murderous trance. It sickened me to my stomach.

"If I can get a clear line of sight to a Bulb Nepenthe." I could see it in her eyes that the information was being processed as I spoke. "All I'd need to do is hit it with a pebble."

«Improvised Throwing» was the skill I had used during the 'Tutorial Period' to teach Klein about sword skills and it may just be the answer to getting out of this mess. I let my arms go limp, dropping my hands into the long grass to look for a decent weapon. _Got it!_ My fingers wrapped around the sizeable pebble, sheathing it in my palm for the time being. My eyes drifted towards the approaching players. I can almost smell their blood lust.

"Quickly, Kirito." I hear my party-mate force through clenched teeth. She was scared, but I'm glad she trusted me.

I spotted my target. A Bulb Nepenthe, skulking around the edge of the clearing. My arm raises above my shoulder quickly, I clumsily assume the pre-motion for a throw.

"The hell do you think you're doing?!" The orange player closest to us barks out. But it was too late, the high pitched wind up «SFX» had reached its pinnacle. I released. My arm snapped outwards as I completed the post-motion for the skill, leaving the tiny weapon rocketing towards its target.

' _THWACK!'_

Direct hit! I hear a faint ringing noise signifying a «Weapon Proficiency» level-up. The icing on the cake really. The target screeches out, a foul stench releasing from its bulb.

"You sneaky bastard." I heard the other orange player seethe. The player closest to us turns on his heel and stares down the Nepenthe, his eyes wide.

"We need to get out of here!" His voice hoarse like he had just gargled on sawdust. His three 'green' followers didn't need much more motivation than that as they turned on a dime and bolted for the side of the clearing that wasn't swarming with «Little Nepenthes».

"That would be our cue." I grasped Argo's hand and clambered to my feet. We had little time before we, ourselves would be swarmed and ultimately MPK'ed by our own hand. I saw Argo's hood dip which I assumed was a quick nod before I bolted for the trees.

"Black! Where are you going!?" I heard who I assumed was the Orange leader bark out from the clearing.

We kept running, my eyes drifting to the stamina bar steadily depleting in my field of vision. I knew our stamina would hold out at least until we came to the road outside the forest but we would need to stop at the road for a few minutes of reprieve to regain our breath so to speak.

"You still there?" I called out to Argo, making sure she wasn't lagging behind. I was too focussed on jumping over gnarled tree roots and stray boulders at high speed to be able to turn my head to check on her. Thankfully I received a strained grunt that sounded like Argo close behind me. "We're nearly in the clear!" I called out. The density of the trees was beginning to thin out as we neared the edge of the forest.

We burst from the forest at record speeds for a starting player. I skidded to a halt once my feet reached the dusty dirt road that acted as a road between towns. We should have been home-free but what was waiting for us in the center of the road made the hair that should have been on the back of my neck stand at end. _How the hell did he get here!?_

"He-llooo?" He spoke in a whimsical tone, his words seemed to fall from his lips like smoke. "Thought we could run run away like scared little mice?"

My hand clasps around the hilt of my sword, pulling it slowly from its sheath. "Where are your friends?" My brow raised in curiosity. He looked to be alone, but I've made that mistake once already today.

"Like _you_. Run run away like pathetic _mice_." I could see his lips curve upwards into a cruel, disturbing grin beneath his hood. " _They_ don't have the stomach to do what needs to be done~!" He brandished his knife, flipping it between his fingers. "Pathetic fools, running away from a prize like _you~_!"

There was no doubt in my mind that the player standing before us was deranged, his grip on reality was lost. "You're outnumbered." I heard the metal of Argo's dagger scrape against the sheath it was stored in.

"Ki-bou, I really do not like this guy's vibe." Argo shuddered as the hooded player's gaze shifted between them. "We have been too busy leveling, I don't have any intel on who he is or what level he is."

Argo was right. I had quickly forgotten. She was an Info-Broker. Argo made her business on knowing everyone and everything and I had been monopolizing her time with grinding for a weapon she couldn't even use.

I shook the thoughts from my head, my eyes trained on the figure in front of us. I watched him lick his lips slowly, all the while his knife flipping between his fingers. Suddenly, the handle of his blade snapped into his palm in a reverse grip. His blade glowed a deep purple as he activated a sword skill before launching himself towards me as soon as the system took over. As fast as I could, I activated «Horizontal», forcing our blades together with a bright clash of blue and purple.

When two «Sword Skills» meet each other, they create a knockback effect, sending bother players into their Post-Motion phase which was exactly what had just happened.

My jaw was painfully clenched, hand gripping my sword tightly. I knew for a fact that he had used a dagger skill by the name of «Armor Pierce» which had a slightly shorter post-motion delay and I could tell he knew it too. His grin stretched off his face as he un-stiffened and launched himself at me just for his blade to be met with Argo's own «Armor Pierce». Purple blade met dull steel with a flash, the connection knocking the orange player on his backside with an audible thud. By this time my body had freed itself from its vulnerable state, my blade arm swung out, the tip of my sword sitting comfortably beneath his chin.

"Concede," I spoke firm, there was no way he would risk his own life by moving. The neck was a critical spot for players, taking a hit there would ensure that damage taken was 2x the regular amount.

"Alright. You have me. But don't think this is the end~" He sheathed his knife and pushed the tip of my blade away from his throat with his index finger, a thin red line forming in its absence "I'll live to kill you another day, pretty boy." He stood and slowly backed into the trees behind him, the darkness of the late evening and the density of the forest canopy obscuring his retreat. I kept my sword in hand for a few minutes after his departure, weapon ready in case he stupidly tried to ambush us from the treeline.

After 10 minutes of silence, I heard Argo's knife clatter to the ground behind me, her shaking form crumpling alongside it. I turned on my heel towards her position.

"Ki-bou…. Let's f-finish up here t-tonight, yeah?" Her voice was shaky, it was obvious that the encounter with a murderer had a greater effect on her than she initially showed. I rested a hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze, the gesture always seemed to work on my younger sister.

"Alright then, let's get out of here." I spoke softly, as so to not startle her. She rose to her feet quickly and gracefully. I am positive for the next few days, we will be on our highest guard.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7 - The Grind_

It had been a week since my encounter with the orange players. Over 400 people had died. The boss room hadn't been found yet. What's more, I hadn't seen Argo in a few days now. She hadn't dissolved the party, but I respected her privacy enough not to go looking for her.

I heard the rustling of bushes behind me. My sword was already drawn, the leather-bound hilt creaks under my grip. I hear the low growling of a high level «Dire Wolf». The area I have been grinding for EXP in for the last 4 hours was full of them. Most players would be familiar with the smaller variants littering the fields around the «Town of Beginnings», but these larger wolves sat a comfortable 3 levels above them.

It bared its teeth, razor-sharp fangs dripped with saliva. I got ready for its attack, sword at the ready. The wolf pounced, its powerful jaws opened wide in preparation for its bite attack. I parried it easily, my blade connecting with its muzzle in a quick downwards slash. It whimpered loudly, skidding across the grass before growling at me once again. I readied my blade, the familiar 'wind-up' SFX of a sword skill ringing in my ears. As soon as the wolf lunged, my blade ran it through with a «Slant» skill, its limp form toppled to the ground behind me, the sound of its model shattering and the inevitable pale reward window popping into view to serve my congratulations.

I smirked. It was getting easier. It was starting to feel like a game again. It was really all I could do to rationalize my behavior. From dawn till dusk, I left my temporary home at the inn and slew any monster that crossed my path. Day in, day out. It was a vicious cycle which, as a solo player, would probably get me killed one day but that didn't matter.

I was making good progress.

" _It's not progress at all if you die alone somewhere, how are they going to get your progress then?"_ Was the last thing Argo said to me after I tried rationalizing my irresponsible grinding habits with 'Making good progress'. I, of course, agreed with her….in my head. On the outside, I was probably more standoff-ish. Saying something along the lines off.

" _I don't see anyone else trying to beat this game?"_

Personally, I could have handled that better. She didn't stick around for long after that, she travels a lot between the 'frontier' which is my fancy name for 'the areas that I spend grinding alone' and the «Town of Beginnings». It was the life as such for the «Sword Art Online»'s most revered 'Information Broker'. In the beta-test, Argo was described as someone who would 'sell her own grandmother for the right price', but those who spread such a rumor didn't really know the real Argo. _She was much worse._

But back to me. Today I had spent the better half of 12 hours killing Dire Wolves alone. It was definitely the most boring part about SAO, due to the lack of EXP quests. Now, the most efficient way to level up was to mass murder field monsters. I had already completed all of the dungeons on this floor, sans the boss labyrinth, and grinding out dungeon monsters was an unnecessary risk.

I quickly pivoted on my heel as another growl came whirling past my head. _Another wolf is here to meet its doom._ I chuckled to myself. I stepped quickly, my glowing red blade thrust out before me as I executed the «Rage Spike» skill. I really loved this skill back in the beta, it was always handy at closing distances due to its unnatural increase in lunge speed. Luckily it was still useful in the full release judging by the sound of glass breaking once again, it brought a smile to my face. _Ding!_ The window showing my rewards appears, I notice my level rise once again. _Maybe I can finish early today?_

I opened my menu, pinching my forefinger and thumb together and dragging the menu down from non-existence. Allotting my available skill points into my dominant attributes, Strength, and Agility. I should probably use this opportunity to check my weapon proficiencies. _60 One-handed Sword and 15 Throwing Weapons._ I hadn't dabbled with any other weapons as I had previously. In the beta I had spent a solid two days using every possible weapon I could get my hands on, trying out every combination, I even stupidly ran a 'Dual Weapons' build for a day or so, but the inability to use any sword skills became a problem. Eventually, I just settled for One-handed Sword and have stuck with that ever since.

Coming back to reality, again. I return my trusty «Anneal Blade» to its sheath and prepare for the long walk home. «Horunka» was roughly an hour's trek away from my current position and I would surely encounter a few monsters lurking around the area on the way home.

"Good day, sir!" I noticed one of Horunka's town guards saluting in my direction. I half smiled and extended the same politeness back. _The longer I spend here, the more the NPC's start feeling like real people._ Shaking the strange thought from my mind, I trudged slowly up to the well-weathered Inn I had been spending my nights in, pushing open the heavy wooden doors into the Tavern below.

"Kii-bou!" My eyes searched for the owner of the voice in the crowd.

"Hey, Argo." I half smiled at the hooded girl, allowing my feet to automatically usher me over to where she was sitting. "I suppose you're after some map data and Intel?" I asked, shuffling into the booth seat opposite her and raising an eyebrow in question.

"Hey! It's like I'm not allowed to come to see a friend without an ulterior motive?" Her voice feigned an accusatory tone. Her hand lifted from the table, combing its way under her hood and pulling it back over her head showcasing her unruly blonde hair. "But your map data and floor intel would be nice too." A sheepish grin graced her lips, her whisker blessed cheeks pushing it upwards until it reached her eyes.

"I thought as much." I opened my menu and copied the map data into a tradable item. "You're gonna pay me though right?" I opened a trade window and deposited the item quickly, pressing the accept button as soon as I saw the «Col» appear alongside it.

"Of course I'd pay you, who do you take me for?" She grinned mischievously. "A Rat perhaps?"

I recoiled a bit at her comment. She never was fond of her beta-test nickname, so for her to suddenly embrace it was a surprising development. "You never liked that name, why are you using it now?"

She leaned back against the dark weathered wood of the booth, closing her eyes in contemplation. "Well, I thought about it." Her forefinger climbed to a comfortable resting point on her chin in mock thought. "The name is, unfortunately, what made me memorable in the beta. If people wanted info they came looking for «The Rat», while it isn't a very flattering name, you can not deny its effectiveness."

"It was always better than «The Black Swordsman»." I chuckled lightly, waving my hand outwards to summon a bar-waiter. "It always made me sound like some mid-teen edge-lord."

Round after round of drinks, we laughed together for what seemed like forever, surprisingly sinking back into a comfortable back-and-forth that I had missed since she left the frontier a week ago. I always liked playing solo, but something about laughing alongside someone in this bleak world kept the dark thoughts at bay.

"Hey, Kii-bou?" Argo's voice crackled into existence, just barely drowning out the ever playing Tavern BGM.

"What is it?" I downed another mouthful of ale before setting the mug down to be taken away.

"What level are you?" Usually, when Argo is after a piece of information for her collection, her eyes would twinkle and her fingers would comically patter together like some evil mastermind. But this Argo was concerned, like she was expecting to be told something awful.

"10? Just reached it today, why?" It's as if her worst fears were confirmed, her shoulders slumped and her hands fell limply into her lap. "Why, what's wrong with that?"

"Y'know, what you said earlier in the week… It really got me thinking." As she spoke, her eyes wouldn't meet mine, paying attention only to where her hands sat in her lap. "That someone would have to stand up and start pushing the frontline." Her voice cracked as she spoke, fingers knitting together until her knuckles paled. "I just didn't want it to be you, y'know."

I laughed. Her head popped up from its slump, her eyes mixing together a concoction of irritation and curiosity.

"What? What is so funny about that?!" The annoyance in her voice was palpable, her fist banging on the table quickly, triggering a little purple «Immortal Object» flag.

"You forget that I love these kinds of games." My face shifted from amusement into something more tender. "True, this game is really far from what someone would consider a 'Game', but it still plays like one, which means I love playing it."

Her face softened at my words, even though to be honest, I was fooling myself with the same words just as much as I was fooling her. I love playing games, and this was just another game with lethal stakes, but I wasn't out there grinding every day because I love games. I stand by what I told her. _I don't see anyone else trying to beat this game._ I wasn't trying to be pragmatic, I've never thought of myself as 'a go-getter', we're just never going to get out of this game and see our families again if we do nothing.

"You're really something, Kirito." She smiled warmly at me before waving out down the Bar-waiter for another round of drinks. "And you're level is definitely going to earn me some big bucks."

"Why am I not surprised."


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm back again with another update! Thank you to everyone who left a review.**

 **HunterCoralson: Thanks for pointing out some inconsistencies, there had been a long break in between chapters 5-6 so I appreciate the heads up! The errors have been corrected.**

 **I'm trying to keep on a consistent update schedule of one chapter every couple of days while the ideas are still flowing. I'm not sure EXACTLY where I want this to go, but I am sure I'll figure it out soon. ANYWAY.**

 _Chapter 8 - A Bath_

 _SMASH!_

My «Anneal Blade» glowed pale blue as I executed another «Horizontal», the weary blade cleaved through the «Ruin Kobold Trooper» like a hot knife through butter, temporarily stunning the monster while I run my blade through the monster's abdomen, shattering it in a display of particle effects. I returned my weapon to its sheath before swiveling to scan the area around me.

"This data should be handy for Argo." I opened my menu, navigating to the map tab to inspect my handiwork. "There are a few blanked out nooks and crannies, but I'll pick them up on the way back." I started my trek back towards the mouth of the «Labyrinth», making sure to stand in all the pesky blind spots that my map refused to fill on the way here.

At about halfway back to the entrance I notice a group of players resting in the mid-dungeon «Safe Zone». My heart fills with familiarity as I realize who it is. Red unruly hair, scruffy bandit-like face.

"Klein!" I wave in greeting as I exit the shadows, coming into view of the safe area. Noticing he is flanked by 3 other players whose faces I don't recognize. "Fancy meeting you here."

The red-haired man turns at the sound of my voice, a smile stretching across his scruffy chin. "Kirito, my man." As I approach, we engage in some sloppy handshake greeting neither of us has practiced or agreed on. At its conclusion, we laugh. "I knew I would find you somewhere in here."

"Oh yeah?" I raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Were you looking for me for something, Klein?"

He nods his head at my inquiry, his arms resting comfortably on his hips. "We've heard rumors that you're spearheading the frontlines." He reaches out to tap me on the shoulder with a closed fist. "I thought you might need some help."

I grin at his proposition, while I don't think I need any help pushing the front lines, it would be helpful having more sword arms to help take down the floor boss. I pat him on the back, sparing a quick glance at his party members. They really look like a rag-tag group of highwaymen. "While I don't particularly need a hand clearing dungeons, I could use some help getting information out of them quickly."

Klein pinches his chin in thought, he looked to be considering my proposition. "I may have someone fit for that job." He waves out to his party members to gather. "Kirito, this are my men." A few of the men scowled at Klein but it seemed to be in jest. "This is Dynamm," He pointed out to a tall, rather mousy looking man. "Dale," he was a more heavy-set man with a full head of curly hair. He pointed to the last of the men, a tall, lithe looking man who boasted a friendly smile, "And Issin."

"Nice to meet you all." I smiled as warmly as I could, scratching the back of my head nervously. They all seemed to bow respectfully to me for some reason, I'm positive these men were all my elders. "No need to be all formal guys, I'm younger than you." I chuckled weakly.

"You are our leader's sensei! We must show you due respect." Issin exclaimed, dropping into a bow again, almost like he was addressing a drill sergeant. I looked towards Klein with a pleading look, which he seemed to reply only with a shrug.

I opened my menu, scrolling through to my friends' list to add Klein's 'Men', manually typing in each of their names before pressing the send button. "I'm about to head back to «Tolbana», so you can have this map data for free." I made a few copies of my map information and handed them out to Klein's party. "Just don't tell Argo I gave it to you first." I heard them chuckle quietly as I turned on my heel and made my way towards the safe zone exit.

"We'll catch you next time around!" Klein waved out with a broad grin plastered on his features.

"We look forward to working with you, Sir!" His party members chorused with yet another bow in my direction. Maybe I would enjoy working with them after all, they seem to have a lot of character.

It was much later than I anticipated by the time I exited the «Labyrinth». The sun had already passed below the threshold, caking the land in a thick layer of chilled air and darkness. SAO was never truly 'too dark', there was always just enough light for you to navigate the world reliably, even stepping from a well-lit area into a dark area, the environment just seemed to naturally brighten until it was comfortable. This made the trip back to town less dangerous for me and any other players residing on the front lines.

I had only recently pushed the 'frontline', as people are calling it, to the town of «Tolbana», the last, and largest of the towns on the first floor, not including the «Town of Beginnings». «Tolbana» is also the closest town to the «Labyrinth», which makes it an excellent base of operations for any frontline players, which so far consisted of about 20 players, but I'm certain the number would increase once the Boss Room is discovered.

I trudged a little quicker than my usual pace, unconsciously stepping in time with the sound of a faint BGM track on loop. Although, something quickly caught my attention, pulling me from my trance. I could hear the faintest sound of metal clanging against something. I activated my «Hide» skill, shrinking down to a crouch, I moved silently towards the source of the sound. As I got closer, I could make out a distinctly feminine grunt before each clash, I sank behind a bush, just managing a peek between the virtual branches. I could see what looked like a lithe girl, looking to be a similar age to myself.

 _What is she doing?_ She let out another strained noise as she pulled a small knife from a pouch on her waist, raising it above her shoulder. Her eyes seemed to be locked on the tree next to me. _Oh shit!_ By the time I realized what she was doing, _She didn't even activate a sword skill?_ I heard her grunt and her arm snapped forward, the blade flipping through the air towards the tree.

The knife clunked against the hard bark harmlessly and bounced into the air towards me, I raised my hands in front of my face defensively. While the knife may have bounced off the tree harmlessly, it was sharp enough and moving fast enough to sink a good inch into the palm of my hand.

"Ouch!" My involuntary cry of pain was met very quickly with a reply from my unwilling target.

"Who is there?" She called out, a mixture of anger and panic in her voice. I hear her rummage around in her pouch again, probably looking for another knife to throw.

"Easy, easy." I stood from my position, my hands in the air, knife still comically hanging out of my opened palm.

I could see her face quite clearly now, she was a pretty young girl, definitely around my own age. Her eyes were a dark grey, her hair a matching grey "Were you spying on me?!" The look on her face was very clearly more angry than panicked, she bore into my eyes with her own. "Trying to get the jump on a girl?"

"Whoa, whoa." I shook my head vehemently, quickly investigating the clearing around me. "I heard strange noises on my way back to «Tolbana», I only came to investigate."

She seemed as though she was trying to inspect my face, looking for any signs of deception. Her eyes eventually rose to the accident on my hand. "W-was that me?" Pink tinting her cheeks ever so slightly.

I flashed a half smile, slowly moving my uninjured hand to the other so I could remove the intruding item. I grasped at it, wincing at the uncomfortable feeling of the knife leaving my virtual skin. "Well, really, it was the tree." I tossed the knife into the grass between us, both hands still raised in surrender. "What were you trying to do?"

She gave me an uncomfortable look, her eyes moving between me and the offending metal blade laying in the grass between us. The girl seemed to relax a little, returning the blade in her hand to the pouch. "Sorry." Her voice was quiet and cold but I could tell she was sincere. She walked over to the discarded knife and deposited it into her pouch with the others. "I'm leveling up my «Throwing» skill. The enemies in this area take too long to respawn, I can level up proficiency by just throwing it at a tree."

I brought my fingers up to my chin, in thought. "But wouldn't it be easier if you throw using a sword skill?" I raised a brow in question.

Her shoulders seemed to tense as soon as I mentioned a sword skill. "I-I can't really do them reliably." She stammered out, she looked slightly embarrassed for a moment before pulling a knife out of her pouch. "Don't you dare laugh."

I tried not to chuckle as the girl in front of me glared daggers at me. "I can teach you if you want." I tried to smile as warmly and as genuinely as I could. "I have the «Throwing» skill equipped, I could give you a few quick pointers." She looked confused for a few short moments before returning her trusty knife again and giving me a quick nod. I pulled a small throwing pick out of my own inventory. "I noticed that you have almost had the right «Pre-Motion»." I emulated her throwing stance. "You just don't quite lift your elbow high enough to activate it."

I lifted my own elbow a couple of inches higher, creating a more strained throwing position that seemed to naturally generate pressure. The throwing pick began to glow red, the winding SFX getting louder until it reached its loudest point, I drove it home, allowing the system to take over the motion. The pick left my hand with a lightning fast snap as it careened into the tree, embedding itself deep in the bark.

She watched every movement I made, studying my stance and position. I could see her mentally noting everything as I moved. She took a similar position after I was done, readying her throwing arm into her own stance. She looked over to me for confirmation, I replied with a quick nod. Her arm adjusted, straining backward ever so slightly. The knife between her fingers glowed pale red and began to wind up like my own. I could feel the wind pick up around us as a gust blew through the forest, loose leaves floating down towards the underbrush below. The girl released her knife like lightning, blade impaling a falling leaf and pinning it to the tree….right through my throwing pick. The pick's durability plummeted as the knife made contact and shattered into glassy polygons.

"Wow. That was incredible." I clapped softly as she took a short moment to celebrate her success. She was a fantastic shot, if she continued leveling that throwing skill, she could become a fantastic ranger once the «Archery» skill is unlocked. "You are a fantastic shot."

She seemed to shy away from me at my words, but she mumbled a thank you in return. She walked over to the tree and pulled her knife. "Sorry, about your pick." She deposited it and leaned her back against her target tree. "Sinon."

"Sorry?" I tilted my head to the side.

"My name." Her voice was soft, almost indistinguishable from the breeze through the forest.

"Oh, Kirito." I leaned against the opposite side of the tree, our backs to each other. "Where are you staying, if you don't mind me asking?"

She hesitated for a short moment before letting out a long breath she was holding in. "Nowhere." I wondered, maybe for a second, that she was saying it to elude me, for her own privacy or safety. "I can't really afford it." She continued. "I spend all my monster drops on replacement knives." She sighed loudly, obviously embarrassed by her lack of MMO sense.

I grimaced, holding myself back from lecturing the poor girl on why that is the worst thing you can do in an MMO. I opened my menu and itemized a small pouch of «Col» from my inventory and wordlessly held it out to her, gesturing her to take it. She shook her head, making a small 'Uh-uh' noise. "Take it." I held out my hand more aggressively. "I can only assume you're sleeping in safe areas and in public town areas which is dangerously unsafe." She seemed to look down at my words.

"I don't want your charity." She pushed my hand away, her eyes finding mine in the darkness of the forest. "I've been doing fine on my own."

Feeling marginally more irritated than before, I returned the bag of Col to my inventory and frowned. "Fine, but if you don't take the money then you're agreeing to come back to town and stay with me." As soon as the words left my lips, I regretted them as every possible misunderstanding flashed through my mind. "T-that is, _where_ I'm s-staying. There are multiple rooms, n-nice _separate_ beds, and a bath!" I stammered uncomfortably, my brain cringing at my own words, fuelling this awful cliche.

Her eyes widened at the final word in the sentence.

"A bath…?" She repeated the word softly, her eyes locking with mine in sudden resolution. "Take me home with you."


End file.
